James A. Bayard Jr.

James Asheton Bayard Jr. (15 November 1799-13 June 1880) was a US Senator from Delaware (D) from 4 March 1851 to 29 January 1864 (succeeding John Wales and preceding George R. Riddle) and from 5 April 1867 to 4 March 1869 (succeeding Riddle and preceding Thomas F. Bayard).

Biography
James Asheton Bayard Jr. was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1799, the son of Federalist senator James A. Bayard, the maternal grandson of Senator Richard Bassett, and the brother of Richard H. Bayard. Bayard became a lawyer in Wilmington before serving as a US Attorney for Delaware from 1836 to 1843 and in the US Senate from 1851 to 1864 and from 1867 to 1869. He was a conservative, and he supported the right of the southern states to secede peacefully, privately hoping for his state's secession; he also opposed abolitionism due to his advocacy for property rights. He resigned from the Senate in 1864 rather than take an oath of loyalty to the Union, but he returned to office upon the death of George R. Riddle. He served out his term, leaving office in 1869. He died in 1880.